Our Town dress rehearsals begin before opening weekend

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The theater’s production of Our Town began its dress rehearsals earlier this week and is full of new faces. However, this does not pose a problem for show director Sally Story.

“I just ask them to come in with a good work ethic, and that is all that matters,” Story said.

Rehearsals for Our Town began Oct. 14, the day after the final production of Dracula. Actors were asked to be off-book the day rehearsals started, meaning they were able to jump straight into the process. While this is the third production of the semester, following Extremeties and Dracula, it is the first for lead actor Jack Pittman.

“It is a new experience for me because a college level production is on another level,” Pittman said.

Pittman is a freshman theater student who was not in the earlier production of Dracula. Although Pittman has been taking classes and hearing the show stories from his fellow students, this is his first MSU production.

“It certainly is a little harder to jump into and adjust to simply because of how new of an experience it is,” Pittman said.

This show also resulted in a new look for Pittman, as he had to shave his head and facial hair for the role.

For fellow student Hannah Kelly, Our Town is a different type of first. Kelly played the role of Vanhelsing in the production of Dracula. Now, however, she is an assistant stage manager, which she said helps show her a different side of things.

“I know how the acting part of a production goes,” Kelly said, “but now I get to see the other half of what goes into a production.”

For others, there is nothing new to this show other than the faces in it. Joey McGinn is a theater senior, and has been involved in more than six productions while attending MSU. He said that with this show, he has had to step into more of a leadership role than before.

“There was one point where we were messing around too much, and I had to shut that down and get us back on track,” McGinn said.

Our Town won a Pulitzer in 1938 and is one of Thornton Wilder’s most renown tales. The play is a simple one, and details the everyday lives and situations of the citizens of the small town Grover’s Corner, New Hampshire in the early 1900s. The MSU production of Our Town is two acts, and runs from Nov. 15 through Nov. 17 at 7:30 p.m., with the final production on Nov. 18 at 2:30 p.m. Students can get one free ticket with their student ID.